Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Endearments.

I call The Rocket Scientist "dear."

I call the kids "hon" (individually -- as a group they are "you guys"), usually with my eyes shut and my hand rubbing the bridge of my nose in exasperation*: "Hon, just because the girl you like can't hang out with you does not mean it is the end of the world. Trust me, when you get older you will find plenty of women who are attracted to red-headed athletic guys who can intelligently discuss the differences between materialism and idealism, or give refutations for the teleological explanations for the existence of God."**

I call Penwiper "sweetheart." I don't call Pandora anything; she and I have a truce which consists of us mutually ignoring each other's existence.

I do not call anyone darling or sugar -- not that I have any real objections to the terms, but I just don't.

I do NOT call anyone anything cute like honey-bunny*** or cutie-pie or snookums.

Because, as I have been saying for years, I am NOT cute.****

*Usually with the Red-Headed Menace, because although all of my kids can be exasperating, he occasionally turns it into an art form.**Not actually a real conversation, although I have had very similar ones with him.***Although, since Pulp Fiction came out, "honey-bunny" has a sort of dangerous, armed coke-addict vibe to it.****"I am dark... and mysterious... and pissed off." Almost Famous.

"Sometimes you gotta create what you want to be a part of." Dr. Geri Weitzman

"An idea is not responsible for the people who believe it." Don Marquis

"The infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox." xkcd (webcomic by Randall Monroe)

"A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" Robert Browning.

"The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation." Jonathan Larson.

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." Emma Goldman.

“No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett.

"I believe that the God who made (among other things) light, and space, and number, and time, and the spiral curve of Fibonacci numbers, must be acknowledged to understand more than I do about why there’s pain in the world." Teresa Neilsen Hayden

“No, it’s not fair. You’re in the wrong universe for fair.” John Scalzi.

"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was." Molly Ivins